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In 18 Games: 83 Yellow and 5 Red - including
8 yellow and 1 red for Millwall-Derby...7 Yellow in Brighton-Sheff Wed
and 7 Yellow and 1 Red this past Saturday's Leeds-Barnsley...And Booked
in every game this season - Soccerbase Stats

Given
that there are bookings given out in almost every single Stroud-Reffed
game, QPR Report predicts a match with several yellows - and maybe even
some Reds. (Sadly there will be no Joey Barton in this game!)

HAPPY MARK HUGHES

MAIL

Happy Hughes is busy proving his point at Stoke after QPR nightmare... but Guzan admits Villa have problems

Mark
Hughes spent last Christmas stewing over his sacking at QPR after
failing to win any of his first 12 games of the season in the Barclays
Premier League.

Twelve months on, and the Welshman is satisfied
that he has rebuilt his reputation and silenced some of the doubters who
questioned his appointment at Stoke in the summer.

Hughes’s side
head into a difficult double-header away to Newcastle and Tottenham on
the back of a four-game unbeaten run that has lifted them into the top
half of the table (check after Swansea game today), and he believes the
season is going to plan.Happier times: Mark Hughes is rebuilding his Premier League reputation at Stoke City

Happier times: Mark Hughes is rebuilding his Premier League reputation at Stoke City

Latched: Peter Crouch scored the winner against Aston Villa to move the Potters into the top half of the table

Latched: Peter Crouch scored the winner against Aston Villa to move the Potters into the top half of the table

SUPER STAT

Stoke
have not lost in the Premier League in December for the last 12 games, a
run going back two years to a 3-0 defeat at Manchester City on December
21, 2011.

‘I was a little bit put out because I felt I was
getting judged on 12 games rather than the 250-odd Premier League games
I’ve been in charge of clubs for,’ said Hughes. ‘I felt it was unfair
but I could understand why people were questioning me.

‘I think
it has to be viewed as progress. I’ve done it for a number of years now
and I’ve got a number of wins behind me, so I do know how to win in the
Premier League.

‘But it’s never about me. It’s always about trying to do my best to make a club and a team better.New life: Charlie Adam scored Stoke's first and is reborn playing further forward under Hughes

New life: Charlie Adam scored Stoke's first and is reborn playing further forward under Hughes

It's not about me! Hughes is pleased at his side's position as they try to beat last season's 13th placed finish

It's not about me! Hughes is pleased at his side's position as they try to beat last season's 13th placed finish

‘We’re
10th and maybe after this weekend we’ll still be 10th leading into the
Newcastle game. That gives us confidence that we’re doing a decent job
at the moment.

‘It’s where we wanted to be at this stage. We’ve
obviously got targets in terms of what we hope to do this season. We’re
as near as damn it where we hoped to be so we’re pleased about that.’

Stoke’s
upturn in fortunes is in contrast to Aston Villa’s three defeats in a
row. With consecutive home games against Crystal Palace and Swansea over
Christmas, goalkeeper Brad Guzan is determined to stop the rot.

‘Obviously
nobody is happy,’ said Guzan. ‘We have to find a way to bounce back.
It’s not a great way to go into Christmas but the good thing about this
period is that the matches are a quick turnaround. It makes Palace a
massive game.’

“I think what we’ve done so far has to be viewed as progress. We’re in decent shape at the moment," says Potters bossI
got this: Hughes has won his last two in a row with the Potters I got
this: Hughes has won his last two in a row with the PottersScott Heavey

Christmas is a time for giving - and Mark Hughes should be given credit for the job he is doing at Stoke.

Hughes knew he had to prove himself in the Premier League all over again because of his failure at QPR.

He was axed 13 months ago with Rangers bottom of the league without a win in their first 12 games.

He
was miffed that as his critics queued up to kick him, they conveniently
forgot his Premier League record at Blackburn, Manchester City and
Fulham.

After a difficult autumn when Stoke fell down the table
faster than the leaves off the trees, he can point to real progress as
he attempts to lead the Potters to a first top-10 finish in the Premier
League.

This win, coupled with their historic victory over
Chelsea, made it back-to-back wins in the league at the Britannia to
lift them to 10th.

The proud Hughes resisted the temptation to
thumb his nose at his critics and knows he must focus on maintaining
their run of just one loss in their last eight league games.

“I was a little bit put out when I came here because I felt I was getting judged on 12 games rather than the 250-odd Premier League games I’ve been in charge of clubs for,” said the Potters boss.

“I felt it was a little bit unfair, but I could understand why people were questioning me.

“I’ve done it for a number of years now and I’ve got a number of wins behind me so I do know how to win in the Premier League.

“It’s
difficult, but the situation is that sometimes you can’t be successful
because of lots of things that have an impact on you as a manager and
the club you’re at.

“I think what we’ve done so far has to be viewed as progress. We’re in decent shape at the moment.”

To
make Hughes’ task even harder he has changed Stoke’s direct style,
which was so ingrained under Tony Pulis, while he has less money than
his predecessor.

“It’s not easy,” he confessed. “But it’s been
easier because of the players who are here, and the players we’ve been
able to bring in.”

After trying to get Stoke to pass the ball,
Hughes went more direct against Aston Villa and their first goal on 50
minutes came when Peter Crouch flicked on Geoff Cameron’s free-kick for
Charlie Adam to score within five minutes of coming on.

The
normally-reliable Erik Pieters committed an uncharacteristic blunder
when his back header went straight to Libor Kozak to equalise on 66
minutes.

Four minutes later, Crouch, who Hughes says won’t be
sold in January, showed his wife and new Strictly champion Abbey Clancy
isn’t the only one with moves as he converted Cameron’s cross for the
winner.

The defeat was the third on the spin for Villa, who were
without the injured Christian Benteke, and goalkeeper Brad Guzan admits
they must beat Crystal Palace on Boxing Day.

“It’s not a great
way to go into Christmas, but the good thing about this period is that
the matches are a quick turnaround,” he said.

“It makes Palace a massive game and we have to make sure we come out of it with three points.